Better Wages and Benefits
Earn a good salary while learning your trade – a salary that increases as your skills and knowledge increase.
ZERO Student Loan Debt
When you graduate from our JATC program you will do so with ZERO student debt.
Hands-On Experience
Learn from experience instructors with hands-on training for the skills you need to excel.
Part Of The Union Family
Trade unions have an incredible network. When you join a union, you join a global family.
Why Join Our Apprenticeship?
The SMART Local 103 Sheet Metal Apprenticeship Program offers unmatched training in the sheet metal industry. Our dedicated team provides the highest level of training to ensure our apprentices and journeypersons enjoy successful careers while offering our contractors the best-trained workforce in the industry. Our facilities offer hands-on training, but like any great organization, our greatest asset is our people. Our full-time staff has more than 200 years of sheet metal experience and 40 years of teaching experience.
What Do You Get?
- Full-time paid training from experienced craftsmen and experts
- Zero tuition / no debt / no student loans
- Healthcare, retirement, and other fringe benefits from day one
- A clear path from apprentice to journeyman
How to Get Started
- Scroll to the bottom of this section and click on the 'Apply' tab for your state
- Fill out the form completely and with as much information as possible
- Wait for a call from one of our Staff
- Prepare a list of questions you have about the program, the work, the pay and benefits, union membership, or anything relevant to your new career.
- Speak honestly about your experience and relevant skills (it's ok to not have any experience at all) and let us know why you think becoming a Sheet Metal Worker is the right career for you.
- Complete any additional steps our staff advises you to do.
- Review your high-school level Math and English comprehension (using online tutoring is advised) as you will be expected to complete an assessment that will be used (along with other metrics) to rank you on the list of apprentices available for work.
- Brush up on your interviewing skills, as you will be interviewed by a board of members of our union and contractors who will want to know, why you think sheet metal and HVAC work is the right career field for you. This interview will be used to rank you on the list of apprentices available for work.
Our Sheet Metal Apprenticeship is a 4-year program designed to give you the skills and experience needed to become a well-rounded and highly employable Sheet Metal Worker and/or HVAC Technician.
- Upon being admitted to the program, you will attend training at one of our JATC’s (Butte MT or Firth ID) up to 6 times a year for advanced training in Sheet Metal Fabrication, Sheet Metal Installation, and HVAC Service / Maintenance.
- The overwhelming majority of your learning will be OJT or 'On the Job Training'. You will work under qualified Journeymen and Foremen who will push you to learn more and more complex skills associated with our craft. You will be expected to show up (on time), with a good attitude, and be committed to learning and performing your duties with pride and attention to detail.
- For every 6 months of satisfactory completion of your program, you will be advanced and earn a 5% pay increase until you complete your program and attain Journeyman status.
- Apprentices will be placed at the first available opportunity based on the workforce needs of the contractors. As an apprentice, you will not have the opportunity to select the contractor you will be working for. Any changes in employment status or issues with your contractor need to be reported immediately to the JATC coordinator in order to keep your apprenticeship on track. Failure to comply with JATC rules or unsatisfactory job performance could result in dismissal from the program.
- Upon completion of the program not only will you receive full-share pay and benefits, but you will also receive a certificate of training from the Department of Labor that qualifies you as a Journeyman Sheet Metal Worker in all 50 states. You will also become responsible for teaching your skills to the next generation of sheet metal workers.
*This process ensures applicants are ranked based on merit, without regard to personal relationships or any immutable factors such as race, gender, age, sexual preference, religion, or ethnicity.
*Applicants from Northern Wyoming (Cody to Gillette) apply at the Montana JATC. Applicants from the Jackson Area apply at the Idaho JATC.
JATC Training
Montana Center | Butte, MT
- Apprenticeship Coordinator: Shawn Roberts
- Phone: 406.533.0112
- Fax: 406.533.0126
- Directions Link
Eastern Idaho | Firth, ID
- Apprenticeship Coordinator: Kade Lish
- Phone: 208.680.5912
- Directions Link
What Our Apprentices Say
As an apprentice, you participate in both on-the-job training and classroom study, allowing you to gain practical experience while learning the technical aspects of the industry.
APPLY NOW
I wish I had joined the sheet metal apprenticeship when I was 18, but I am glad I am here now. It’s never too late to begin, but the earlier you start, the greater the rewards and benefits.
Answers to the Questions Most Asked by Workers in the Sheet Metal Industry When Joining a Union
Collective bargaining. A local union of the Sheet Metal Workers Local Union 103 (SMART Local 103), to which you will belong, will form a bargaining committee of your fellow employees, to meet with your employer and together negotiate a contract that will spell out exact wage rates, job classifications, work conditions, pension, and health benefits, and other concerns you have.
The International Association will assist SMART Local 103 in these negotiations as needed to achieve the results everyone desires. Once the bargaining committee and your employer agree on a proposed contract, it will be put before all members of your bargaining units/no vote.
The agreement that SMART Local 103 negotiates with your employer is signed by both parties and is a legal contract. Your local union and the International Association will take whatever legal action would be necessary to enforce every aspect of this document.
If you are a current SMART Local 103 Member, contact one of your Regional Representatives. If you are not currently a member, we want to hear from you and see if there is a way we can help. Please contact one of our organizers when you have time to discuss the issue in private, and we will do whatever we can to assist you in solving your issue.
Monthly dues, where part goes to the local union and part to the International Association to finance their work on your behalf. The dues rates are established by vote of delegates to the International Convention every five years and in your local union by a vote of the entire membership.
Considering the benefits you gain through your union membership, these monthly dues literally pay for themselves. It just may be the best investment you ever make throughout your working lifetime.
You can have a union by following these steps:
- Contact one of our organizers by using the contact form or calling 406.458.3364.
- A local union organizer will contact you.
- The law requires that employees must show that they are interested in being represented for purposes of collective bargaining. Employees’ interest is shown by a “signed authorization card”.
- When a majority of employees in your company have signed authorization cards, your local union will request recognition from your employer.
- Your employer can recognize and agree to negotiate a union contract with a bargaining committee of your choosing from the employees and a representative of the union.
- If your employer does not recognize the union, the union may petition the National Labor Relations Board, and the NLRB will set a date for an election. If the results are in favor of the union, the NLRB will certify the union as the legal bargaining representative for the employees.
- Collective bargaining then will begin with your employer to negotiate a union contract. No union contract can be signed without the full knowledge and consent of the majority of the employees covered by it.
The Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) has a long history of settling local union/employer problems without the need to strike. Procedures for settling disputes, including arbitration by an outside, objective party, are in place to prevent strikes. Only as a last resort is a strike called.
NO. Your right to join a union of your own choosing is guaranteed by the laws of the country. The National Labor Relations Act gives you the right to form or join a union for the purpose of collective bargaining. The law prohibits your employer from interfering with your efforts to organize.
Unions, including the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association through its Political Action League (PAL), are involved in politics for three good reasons:
1. To protect themselves and the gains they have won for workers through collective bargaining.
2. To promote justice, fairness, and equal opportunity for all workers.
3. Elect public office holders who believe in the above.
No dues monies are given to political candidates running for office. Only voluntary contributions to PAL are used to contribute to political campaigns.
READY TO APPLY?
Reach out today… Our JATC team will contact you with more information!
